Will He Ask Her to be His Bride?: The Millionaire's Convenient Bride / The Millionaire's Proposal / Texas Ranger Takes a Bride

‘No. At least not yet. We leave those until the end of the holiday.’

They loaded their packages on to a patient Sam, then made for a café to wait while he stowed everything in the car.

Not sure of the protocol, Hester was relieved to hear that Sam had always lunched with Lowri and Alice during shopping trips near Bryn Derwen.

‘But Alice is married now, to Owen’s father,’ said Lowri as she downed her drink thirstily. ‘Owen’s mother died when he was little, and his grandma brought him up, just like me. But she’s got arthritis now, so Mr Griffiths married Alice.’

‘That’s nice for Owen,’ said Hester.

Lowri nodded sagely. ‘Alice used to take me to the farm a lot, so Owen’s known her for ages. He thinks she’s cool. It’s a very good arrangement, Grandma says.’

Not least for Mr Griffiths, thought Hester, and looked up with a smile as Sam came in to join them.

‘Good,’ said Lowri. ‘Let’s eat!’

When Hester finally got to bed that night she stretched out with a sigh of relief, confident that she’d made a reasonable start with Lowri. There’d been an awkward moment at suppertime when the child had wanted Sam to stay and eat his lasagna in the kitchen with them, but he’d refused, saying he liked to read the paper while he ate his dinner and, in any case, he couldn’t leave the monitors that long.

‘You leave them when you come out with us,’ Lowri had pointed out mutinously, but he told her that was different and he had to get going or his dinner would be cold.

It was different, Hester could have told Lowri, because when he was out with them, Sam had Lowri under his watchful eye all the time. Here in the house, his job was to keep unwanted visitors away for the same reason. But Hester also had an idea that Sam refused to cross a line he saw as clearly defined. Connah thought a great deal of Sam Cooper, it was obvious, but the relationship on both sides was still very much employer and valued employee. And, since Connah had elected to dine in the kitchen when he was at home, it would have been awkward if Lowri had expected Sam to join them.

We’d have made an ill-assorted quartet, thought Hester wryly. In her former job, the question of eating with her employers had never arisen. They were both successful actors with working hours that varied according to the film or television series they were involved in. It was Hester who’d made the children’s supper. The three-year-old Herrick twins, Sebastian and Viola, were engaging children Hester had been very fond of. But when their parents won lead roles in an American television series, nothing they could say would persuade Hester to accompany the family to Los Angeles.

Hester sighed as she stared through the window at the stars. After a job in a theatrical household, her next post would be very different. George Rutherford, her new employer, owned a very successful haulage firm. His wife Sarah was still helping him run it, seven months into her first pregnancy at the age of forty-one, and had every intention of going back to work after the birth, leaving Hester very literally holding the baby.

But, before all that, Hester reminded herself, she had six weeks in Connah Carey Jones’s home, which was not only a dream come true on one level, but a very pleasant way of earning some money before she moved on to pastures new. One of the downsides to her job was parting with her charges when the time came. She sighed in the darkness. She’d known Lowri for only a very short time, but she already knew that it would be no easier to part with her after six weeks than it had been with the other children after several years. And this time there would also be the painful wrench of parting with Lowri’s father.

CHAPTER FOUR

HESTER’S phone jolted her awake next morning.

‘Connah here. Good morning.’

Heart thumping for various reasons, not least the sound of his voice, she took a deep breath. ‘Hello. Is something wrong?’

‘A bad case of guilt. I had a totally manic day yesterday. By the time I had a moment free, it was too late to ring either Lowri or you. Was she upset?’

‘If she was she didn’t say so. She had a wonderful day. After the shopping spree, she was quite sleepy after supper and settled down in bed shortly after nine. Shall I get her for you now?’

‘No, don’t wake her. When she gets up, tell her I apologise. Was the shopping trip a success?’

‘Very much so. Brace yourself for an itemised—and very long—list of her new clothes when you see her. I’m taking her to tea with my mother this afternoon, by the way.’

‘I only wish I could gatecrash the party. Please give your mother my regards.’

‘I will. Goodbye.’

Hester snapped her phone shut and slid out of bed to make for the bathroom. Half an hour later she looked in on a deeply sleeping Lowri and went down to the kitchen to enjoy a peaceful—and very early—breakfast. It had been a mistake to tell Connah she was an early riser. If it hadn’t been for his phone call, she could have stayed in bed a little longer for once. And, more importantly, without the fright of thinking something was wrong at home.

After a late breakfast Lowri spent a happy hour sending texts to friends on her treasured phone, while Hester saw to the minimal duties necessary to preserve the fiction that she was a housekeeper before she took her charge off to the park for some exercise.

Lowri was all for it, provided she could wear her new combat trousers. ‘Perfect for a run,’ she announced, doing a twirl for Sam in the kitchen.

This time, rather to Hester’s surprise, Sam elected to accompany them into the park. ‘I like a run myself now and then,’ he announced.

Lowri eyed him doubtfully. ‘I run fast,’ she warned.

‘Run a bit slower today then, so Sam can keep up,’ said Hester, giving him a sly grin.

When they got back to the house later, Sam went down to his own quarters to make himself some lunch and Hester and Lowri ate alone.

‘Just one sandwich,’ said Hester. ‘We must leave room for my mother’s tea.’

‘It must be lovely having a mother,’ sighed Lowri. ‘Or even a stepmother like Alice. Owen’s so lucky.’

‘Did you see them over the weekend?’

‘Yes. Daddy took me down to the farm to get eggs, and we all had tea and fruitcake. Alice baked it. She asked Owen’s grandma for the recipe.’

Good move, Alice, approved Hester.

Lowri was ready well before time to leave in a new denim miniskirt and pink T-shirt to match her new pink and white trainers.

‘How do I look?’ she asked Sam.

‘Very grown-up!’

She smiled ecstatically. ‘I can’t wait to show Chloe my new things.’

Lowri’s excitement visibly mounted as Hester gave Sam directions on the journey. When they reached the house Robert was waiting at the gate. He opened the rear door of the car and gave the passengers his gentle, irresistible smile.

‘Hello. I’m Robert and you must be Lowri. Welcome.’ He held out his hand to help her out and Lowri smiled back at him shyly.

‘Hello. It’s very nice of you to ask me to your house.’

Well done, thought Hester, and gave her stepfather a hug. ‘Hi, Robert. You’ve met Sam, of course.’

Sam shook hands, then asked Hester what time he should return to fetch them, but Robert shook his head.

‘We insist you stay to tea, Sam. My wife has spent most of the day baking.’

Hester grinned. ‘And she’ll be mortally offended if you don’t stay to eat some of it.’

Moira waved from the open doorway as they climbed the steep path to the house. She hugged her daughter, then turned to Lowri with a warm smile and held out her arms. ‘Could I possibly have a hug from you too, darling?’

Lowri was only too happy to be hugged. Then she remembered her manners and introduced Sam, and Moira led the way through the house into the back garden, where tea was laid under a large umbrella on a table surrounded by a selection of odd garden chairs.

‘What a lovely garden,’ said Lowri rapturously. ‘We’ve just got a sort of patio in the townhouse.’